Uncle Severus
by Dixiehnsnluver
Summary: Her mom died, Her uncle is "Weird" What else could happen to Leia?
1. Lost and Found

            "Lost. The only way to be in Kings Cross Station," Leia muttered hefting her backpack up on her shoulder. Her mom's lawyer had given her explicit instructions on where to go and what to do except when it came to her last train ride. She looked at her ticket again. The directory had shown no 9 ¾ on it. Leia didn't think asking would do any good either. Already she had gotten looks for being an American child traveling by herself. 

She wandered to 9 and 10. Leia looked around. There had to be some kind of mistake…or maybe it was a trick. She glanced around at the people rushing about. All were wrapped up in their own worlds and too busy to notice the girl looking at them as if they held the key to an important door. There was another girl standing near a pillar. Though she was dressed normally, she seemed to be different from everyone else. Her eyes were scanning the crowd and it seemed as if she was nervous about something. Leia made up her mind and walked over to her.

            "Hello," Leia said as she pushed her luggage cart near the girl.

            "Hullo…would you be Leia by any chance?" the girl asked looking hopeful.

            "Yes…who are you?" 

            "Your companion on your last train ride." 

            "Oh, then you must know where we are supposed to go. I figured the gate must be some type of secret or trick or-- Wha--" Leia stuttered as the girl pushed her into the pillar. She braced for a painful impact that never came. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in front of another train. The girl appeared next to her.          

            "Sorry, I had to catch you unawares or it wouldn't have worked." She said apologetically. "My name is Hermione Granger."

            "Nice to meet you," Leia said as they walked onto the train. "Will they handle my luggage?" at Hermione's nod she continued, "Do you know my uncle?" 

            "Umm, he is one of my teachers." Hermione led her to a car and helped her put her backpack away. "Why are you visiting him?"

            "Oh, I'm not visiting per say. When my mom died two weeks ago, he became my legal guardian. I have to go live with him." Leia paused trying to put her unvoiced thoughts into words. "Is he weird? I mean my mom was always complaining about him and how weird he was. I…this might sound strange, but I have this one memory of him and floating perfume bottles."

            "I'm really sorry about your mom," Hermione said trying to stall as she thought of a way to phrase her response to Leia's question. "To your mom's standards, your uncle was probably very strange indeed. In our world though, he is considered somewhat normal." At Leia's questioning glance she added, "He's a wizard."

            "That would explain the perfume bottles then, wouldn't it?" Leia shrugged. "Is he bad-tempered? My mom was. Bad-tempered and sometimes downright cruel."

            "One might say he was a bit bad-tempered. I'll let you make you own decision about him though. I think I'm going to start on my make-up work for today."  Hermione stated. Leia looked out the windows and waited for the moment she would meet her uncle after all these years. 

            Leia was startled out of her day dreams when the train came to a stop in front of a small train station. Two lone figures stood on the platform. 

            "Dumbledore and your uncle." Hermione said looking out the window. "We'd better get out there." Leia grabbed her backpack and tried to fight the tears. Seeing her uncle would not make her cry. No. A Snape never cried. She stepped bravely off the train and looked into the eyes of her guardian and uncle. 

            "Hello," he said stiffly.

            "Hello," she replied. Then she dropped her backpack and ran to him. She gave him a hug then jumped back. "S-Sorry," she stated walking back to her backpack. Her father had never liked emotional outbursts. He said they made a person weak. Of course, her father was….She shook her head. That was in the past. Leia had the future to worry about now. She turned to face her uncle. 


	2. The Room of Stars

            Severus Snape stood looking at the niece that had been torn from him when she was only three years old. His own sister had refused to let him see her. She was taller, obviously, and her eyes had lost their childlike character. She seemed determined to avoid emotional outbursts. 

            Leia looked into the eyes of her uncle. It had been so long since she had seen him. Before she could dwell on the past, the other man cleared his throat. Her uncle looked at him then looked at Leia. "Leia, this is Professor Dumbledore. He's headmaster at the school I work at."

            "Is he a wizard too?" Leia asked. Severus looked at Hermione who blushed and looked down at the suitcase at her feet. Severus nodded. "Nice to meet you, sir." She said walking up to Dumbledore and shaking his hand. Dumbledore released her hand then hugged her. This act of kindness from a stranger almost rocked her reserve not to cry, but she managed to keep her eyes dry. 

            "The carriages are waiting," Dumbledore said leading the way to the awaiting carriages. Hermione jumped in one with Professor Dumbledore while Severus and Leia shared one. 

            "How have you been?" Severus asked looking at his relative. From the tears that involuntarily gathered in her eyes, he knew that that wasn't the question he needed to ask. 

            "School has been fun. I'm a sophomore taking junior classes. My teachers love me… the downside is the teasing comments, but where my grades are concerned I don't care. I broke my leg three years ago and spent 6 months in a cast. I think that's the main things you've missed." Leia said ignoring the events of the last two weeks. "What do you teach here?"

            "Potions," Severus answered and proceeded to tell her about the inner workings of magic. When they reached the school, Severus showed Leia to his chambers. "This is the room you'll be staying in." He said leading her to a room off of the living room of his quarters. It was decorated in a navy blue and had glowing stars floating at the ceiling. 

            "It's beautiful…" Leia said walking in and looking at all the stars then back at her uncle. "Can I take a nap, or do I need to stay awake?" 

            "Go ahead and take a nap. I'll wake you up in an hour for dinner." Severus said backing out and closing the door. He went and sat in front of his fire. How could his life have changed so much in the course of two weeks? After an hour of memories, he stood up and walked to Leia's door. He knocked and opened it to reveal a sleeping Leia with tear stains running down her face. Severus decided that she need not go to dinner tonight. Tomorrow would be soon enough. He closed the door once more and went to the fire to order food from the kitchens.  

A/N: wow…two reviews already. The inspiration for this was….um….was….I don't really know. I also don't really have a plot in mind either, just the fact that Severus Snape is a good guy. If you have suggestions, let me know. 

KtDiD


	3. Familiars

            Later that night, Snape awoke to a startled cry and the growl of his familiar. Bolting up he saw Leia in the corner clutching a piece of bread whilst his familiar, a large black panther, stood in front of her.

            "Aille, come here," Snape called the panther to his side. Leia looked up at him.

            "I woke up and was hungry. Your tray was sitting there and you hadn't touched this roll." Leia said holding it up. "Then...Aille…attacked me." She held up her left arm. The sleeve of her sweater was ripped to shreds and there were three long scratches running up her arm. Snape walked quickly to a closet and pulled out a vial of cream. He walked back to her, pushed the sleeve away, and rubbed the cream on her scratches. Immediately the pain seemed to lesson. 

            "Aille, what were you thinking? Attacking a relative like that. Come over here and apologize, you big brute." Snape said to the panther. Aille walked slowly over and licked Leia cheek in apology. Leia smiled. 

            "You aren't so scary after all." She laughed and offered a bit of the roll to her. Aille didn't want it though, and turned to go back to her bed in the corner. 

            "Why don't I get you a tray of your own food?" Snape asked going to the fire. Minutes later, a tray of delicious food appeared. She sat down in a big armchair near the fire and Snape brought the tray over to her. Leia started to eat as Snape sat in a nearby chair. He looked at the face of his niece. Something had changed her. He didn't know what, but something about her lack of childlike qualities (annoying as they sometimes were) bothered him. 

            "Why aren't you a witch?" Snape finally asked. It had been running through his thoughts for awhile now. His entire family had magic in them, and yet she didn't exhibit any. Could she be a Squib?

            "Probably because of my dad," Leia said taking a bite of potato. "He was averse to all things weird. He moved us to Oklahoma, for goodness sakes. If my mother was a witch, then he stopped her. Was I supposed to be one?"

            Snape nodded. "Four years ago, I waited for you to get off of the Hogwarts Express. By that time, your mother had stopped writing, so I didn't know why you weren't there."

            "I'm sorry," Leia said

            "Not your fault. Obviously, my mother was right about your father. She always said he would quash whatever magic was in my sister's life." 

            "Um…Can we not talk about him anymore?" Leia asked setting her fork down. "He wasn't a good father and I'd rather just forget about him." 

            "Well, in two hours, I need to go up to breakfast and then I have classes to teach all day." Snape paused. "Would you like to come with me?"

            "I'd love to!" Leia said pushing the tray aside and standing up. She ran back to the room she was staying in and threw open her suitcase. She quickly changed then ran back out. 

            "We will need to get you some robes to wear. You'll stand out in muggle clothing." Snape said. "Follow me. I'll give you a quick tour before breakfast." They walked up to the third floor, while Snape explained things. They spent a long time discussing moving staircases and the potential for injury. Finally, it came time to go to the Great Hall.

            "Where do I sit?" Leia whispered as they walked in.

            "With me at the teachers table," Snape whispered back. They walked to the teacher table. On the way up, Leia saw Hermione and waved. Hermione waved back then turned to converse with her friends. 

            Leia wound up between Snape and a Professor Minerva McGonagall. McGonagall kept looking at her as if she was something to be pitied. Leia looked out to the students and saw that many of the students met her glance with pity. Even Hermione looked at her that way. Was it something about her?

A/N: Thanks much to Lenna for the good ideas. I had forgotten al about the muggle/wizard family thinger. I'm thinking of bringing Sirius Black in as a slightly unlikable character. I'm gonna have to think about it hard though, because he's one of my favorites. Happy-Day-After-Thanksgiving!


	4. Walking About Reuploaded

_McGonagall kept looking at her as if she was something to be pitied. Leia looked out to the students and saw that many of the students met her glance with pity. Even Hermione looked at her that way. Was it something about her?_

            Leia ate without talking. She couldn't figure out what might be so pitiable about her. Her uncle talked to Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall talked to the woman sitting on her other side. Finally, she stood up and put her hand on her uncle's shoulder. "It's a little hot in here. Can I go outside for a minute?" Her uncle turned and handed her a pair of gloves. 

            "You can if you put these on." He said. She looked at them and back at him. Where had they come from? It must have been a magic thing. She shrugged and slipped them on. Then Leia turned and walked between two tables to get to the door. She walked down the deserted main hall and out into the cold. Hogwarts had magnificent grounds. There were many beautiful paths she could walk on. She was walking down a path when the sounds of approaching footsteps stopped her. Turning around, she saw it was Hermione. The girl was puffing her way down the path, carrying a sack load of books on one shoulder, and waving her free hand. 

            "Hullo there Leia!" Hermione called as she approached. "Your uncle wants me to escort you to his classroom." Leia waited until Hermione was close and then grabbed some of the books out of the sack to lessen the load. Leia turned to Hermione as they started the walk back and asked her the one question that had invaded her thoughts during her walk about the grounds.

            "Why does everyone pity me?" Leia asked looking at her. 

            "Pity you?" Hermione asked, clearly confused. "Who pities you?"

            "Everyone does. You all look at me with pity in your eyes. Am I so ignorant or ugly that I must be pitied?" Leia asked then took a deep breath. "Because if so, maybe I should find somewhere else to stay. I don't need or deserve..."

            "Whoa!" Hermione interrupted her. "We don't pity you because of who you are. It's who you're with. Snape isn't very popular with the students. That is, unless they're Slytherin." 

            "So everyone feels sorry for me because my uncle is mean?" Leia asked slowly. Hermione nodded then grimaced as Leia burst into fits of laughter. "My uncle is the farthest thing from mean. I swear you must have the wrong man." Hermione shook her head, believing Leia to be delusional. They walked on down to the dungeons and Hermione took a deep breath as she prepared to enter the Potions classroom. When they walked in, Snape smiled at his niece then glowered at the boy sitting in the front row. 

            "Mr. Potter, if you wish to blow up the school, continue with your wanton potion brewing on your own time. In my class you will follow the procedure. Ten points from Gryffindor." Snape walked over to Leia and led her up to the front of the classroom...er…dungeon. "This is my niece Leia. She will be observing in here for quite awhile. You had better get used to her now." The class sent her curious looks. Leia just smiled. It was a bit weird that Snape could be so apparently terrible in class and yet so nice in private. It was a mystery she was going to solve later. For now, she was going to catch up on her sketching. There were some interesting faces in the class that begged to be drawn. 

Re-Uploaded- I added more! W00t!

First Post Author's Note: I know it's short. Unfortunately, December is my month of performances. I have to leave now. I just wanted to give y'all a little instead of making you wait forever and a day. : )


	5. Potions Class

_Please note, chapter 4 was re-uploaded.__ Go reread it before continuing with this chapter. Thank you._

_It was a bit weird that Snape could be so apparently terrible in class and yet so nice in private. It was a mystery she was going to solve later. For now, she was going to catch up on her sketching. There were some interesting faces in the class that begged to be drawn._

            She looked at the different faces, trying to choose one in particular to sketch. She narrowed in on the boy sitting next t Hermione. He looked so nervous and frightened of her uncle. 'Interesting…' she thought as she put the basic outline of his body on the paper. She was so lost in her drawing that only after her uncle spoke did she notice a cauldron was now laying on the ground, a brownish goop flowing out of it. Leia set aside her sketchbook and stood up to see things better. Her uncle towered above the boy she had been sketching. The boy was literally shaking as her uncle glared at him. Leia couldn't tell what he was saying, but it was harsh enough to cause Hermione to gasp in indignation. Before Leia knew what was happening, all but Hermione and the boy had been dismissed from class and the two left behind were scrubbing at the gook on the floor. Her uncle swiftly walked out the door in the direction of his chambers to change out of the robes that were now an interesting tie-dye where the splattering potion had hit him. 

            "Let me help please," Leia said coming towards them. She accidentally slipped on an unseen patch of potion and wound up face first in the stuff. Quickly the boy, Neville his name was she found out later, helped her up and started brewing a potion. Hermione quickly finished scrubbing and watched in horror as Leia's face turned colors and seemingly started to melt. It didn't go anywhere; it just assumed a shiny glossy texture that one might find with melted chocolate. All the while Neville was brewing and whispering that Leia would be alright. Leia was still in shock but she trusted the young man to stop the effects of the junk. Finally the potion jellified and Neville scooped some up with his hand and carefully rubbed a bit onto her cheek. He seemed nervous but smiled a little as it started to counter-effect the brown goop. Just then Severus walked back in.

            "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY NIECE?" he yelled running over to them. Hermione held him back and explained what had happened to allow Neville enough time to complete the applying of the potion. When her face was back to normal again, Leia hugged Neville.

            "Thank you so much. Guess I am a bit clumsy, eh?" she laughed. "Sorry, Uncle Severus, I wanted to help but I slipped. My face started to melt. I'll go to my room now." She hopped off the desk, gave Neville one more hug and waved to Hermione before walking out the door. Severus caught up with her as she entered the main door to their rooms. 

            "Leia, wait." Severus said. "Why are you going to your room?" 

            "Well, for punishment of course. Whenever I was clumsy, Dad made me go to my room and practice not running into things. I also went without dinner. You won't do that will you?" she looked at him and continued rambling. "Because, I can try really hard not to be clumsy but I'd like to eat, please." Severus growled and punched a wall. Leia grimace and ran to the other side of the wall. She cowered waiting for him to strike her. 'All good things do come to an end,' she thought bitterly. Severus looked across the room and saw her huddling against the wall. Instantly his demeanor changed and he slowly walked over to her.

            "Leia…Honey, I'm not going to hit you, starve you, or bloody make you walk around your room. You aren't clumsy. I want to kill your father for doing that to you." Severus said reaching for her hand. "Will you please join me for my next class?" Leia slowly nodded and grabbed his hand. Maybe the good wouldn't end today after all. 

A/N: I know, I know. Took me long enough, didn't it? Well, here it is a new chapter. I still don't know where I am going with this. Here I was all happy because three of my stories actually have a plot and then I come to update this one. Sad. Oh dear, and I'm almost tempted to add a little Neville romance on the side. I'm not going to let it override the main conflict about family and trust and idiot fathers. Oh…dear…I ramble don't I? Happy New Year! Enjoy the chapter. 

1-13-03- well, I keep showing two copies of chapter four and I can't make it go away. So I'm gonna try to delete the second one then add this again….*runs off to try* please tell me if it works by…reviewing… *snort* was that clever or what?!


	6. Magic?

Chapter 6:

            Leia and her uncle walked back to the classroom. Hermione still stood inside the doorway. She smiled with relief when she saw Leia was smiling.             

            "Why are you still here?" Severus growled at her. Hermione glared at him then smiled at Leia. 

            "I wanted to make sure Leia was all right." Severus' demeanor changed dramatically.

            "Oh…let me write you a pass to your next class. Wouldn't want you getting in trouble for looking after a friend, would we?" Severus mumbled walking towards his desk. Hermione looked after him in awe. Perhaps having Leia around would change his ways for good. He handed her the paper then snarled "Well, go on then. I have other classes, you know?" Or perhaps not. Hermione hustled out of the door and off to her next class. Leia sat where she had previously been sitting and looked around the classroom. Severus walked back into his office and fixed her a glass of water, adding a few drops of a potion into it. 

            "Here you go. I think you might need some liquids after all that excitement." Severus said handing her the water glass. Leia took a sip. Snape prepared for class as a few kids started trickling in. Leia didn't pay attention to anything. She just stared at the walls and tried to picture them decorated or the dungeon not looking so dreary. If her uncle let her, she could have this place looking more cheery in a few days. Before she knew it the second years were walking out the door. She looked around dazed and found her uncle shutting the door after the last student. "What were you thinking all period?" Severus asked coming to sit at his desk. 

            "Oh I was looking at the walls and mentally decorating them. I had many ideas." She said quietly, not wanting him to get angry at her suggestion that his dungeon was anything less than perfect. After all, her father would have hit her for such a thing.

            "Such as?" Severus asked kindly. Leia smiled. Severus really was different. She pointed to a wall "Well I was thinking that the sconces should be more…pretty?" she suggested. Instantly the sconce turned from a dull boring brown to a silver sleek look. Leia glanced at her finger in shock. What had just happened? 

            "I knew there was magic in you!" Severus exclaimed jumping up. Leia looked around and noticed that all of the sconces had been changed. What would having this power mean for her future? 

A/N: Short, but it's an update non? And plus, we find out Leia has magic in her after all. Why has it been hidden? And did the potion Severus Snape put in it have an affect on her? Hmmm…


	7. A Trip to Diagon Alley is Planned

Chapter 7: A Trip to Diagon Alley is Planned

            "Albus, I must request a day off." Severus Snape said walking into the headmaster's office with Leia trailing behind him. 

            "Why, Severus?" Albus asked concerned. "Has something happened?"

            "You could say that…Leia isn't a squib. I would like to take a day and get her a wand and all the things she will need to complete a home study program so that she may catch up with witches her age" Severus said coming to stand in front of Dumbledore's desk. The old man smiled at Leia and waved then turned back to her uncle. 

            "Well, of course you can go!" Dumbledore said standing up. "I'm sure you're happy to have found this out. How does tomorrow work for you? You can use The Three Broomsticks to Floo out of and go to Diagon Alley. I'll owl Ollivander's so that they'll be ready for you. Have fun," he said as Severus and Leia walked out of his office. He quickly scratched a letter to his friend Mr. Ollivander to make sure Severus and Leia would be able to use the floo connection from The Three Broomsticks to Ollivander's then sent Fawkes off with it. It would do Severus good to have somebody to look after and to teach. 

            Severus and Leia, meanwhile, walked to the Great Hall to eat Lunch. When they entered, Hermione and Neville ran up to them…well, Hermione ran, Neville walked a bit slower. "Can Leia sit with us, Professor Snape?" Hermione asked, grabbing Leia's hand. Snape nodded and Lei smiled at him and ran back to the table to sit between Hermione and Neville. She got to meet the Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter, and a lot of other people whose names she couldn't remember to save her life. Lunch was overwhelming. The kids in Oklahoma hadn't accepted her as easily as the people here did. She smiled and laughed and listened to everyone's descriptions of all the teachers. Most people around her avoided talking about Professor Snape, for obvious reasons, but she understood. She wanted to know how bad he got though. 

            "I guess my uncle can be kind of…harsh, eh?" she asked. Everyone around her quickly took a bite of food. Finally one brave soul spoke up: Neville.

            "He can be intimidating…really intimidating…But, my Gran says he's just trying to 'encourage' me." Neville said stirring his food around his plate.

            "Encourage you?!" Ron yelled. "Encourage you by embarrassing you and taking points off of Gryffindor?" 

            "Rooon..." Hermione kicked Ron.

            "So he's a little intimidating and favors the Slytherins. Okay" Leia said. "I have another question: What's Quidditch?"

            "Oh! It's a game that…" Harry and the rest of the guys spent the rest of lunch gushing over the wizarding sport and by the end of lunch Leia couldn't wait for the first match. When the bell rang for the next class, Leia walked with her uncle back down to the dungeons to observe the next class. This class she paid more attention to what they were doing. She was going to be doing that soon, she might as well start learning early. 


End file.
